Major Problem!

[harleymom]

I have a huge problem with my new carin named Harley. He just turned 10 weeks today. The last few days I have noticed that he hasn't been eating too much of his food. Well today i came home from work and noticed that there were feces stains on the puppy pads but no feces

Did my pup eat his poo????

Well later that night he used the bathroom again. He started sniffing it after and then licked it. So i put him in his cage to clean up. The second i let him out he ran to the place he did his business and started licking the floor.

Why on earth is he eating his own feces and how in the world do i get him to stop.

Now its the only thing he will eat. He's not interested in his puppy food or his treats which he used to enjoy.

I'm so confused and disgusted. Need Help.

[kayharley]

Elliott did the same thing. Try putting a small amount of "Accent" food enhancer on his food. For some reason it makes their feces taste bad. The only thing is that you have to let him taste his poops it in order for it to work.

From what my vet said, it's not all that uncommon in pups. Good luck.

[Eliz222]

I think that alot of dogs eat their own feces....mine like our cats...yuck! If Harley is not eating his own food, and he is only 10 weeks old, I would call the vet right away and have Harley checked out. Let us know how little Harley is!

[hallswel]

Do you leave food in with him all the time? I know I was told to feed my puppy and give them time to finish then take the food away so they would learn to eat it when it was time to eat.

I would also check with the vet to see what you might do to entice Harley to eat. I have had friends that put 1/2 spoonful of cottage cheese in the food to make it taste better.

As for eating poop I had one dog that did it when the other dogs were puppies. I alway thought she did it to clean up the yard so no one knew we had pups and they would be safe. The only time she did it was when they were less than 6 months old. The vet told me it would not hurt her, she was in good health and if I wanted to stop the behavior I could sprinkle something like Accent on it.

[Guest Darcy's mom]

When Darcy was a young puppy she would go on the deck and I sometimes would not get to it immediately and then when I would go out to clean it up, it would be gone. Well, at that time we only had Darcy and I just could not believe my "little angle" was doing this "awful thing" to her poop. We checked with the vet and was told it was not unusual for pups to do this.

I was appalled. Never had any of our dogs done this before. I thought there must really be something weird wrong with Darcy for her to be eating her poop. Didn't seem to hurt her but I can tell you, I didn't let her "kiss" on me after that first incident. After she got grown she would also sample her wares occasionally as I would catch her out in the yard disposing of it. She doesn't kiss or lick on my face, either. That old saying You don't know where their mouths have been must have gotten started from something like this.

Sandy

[Milopup]

My pup ate his own poop when he was very young. He started doing that when he was about 10 weeks old, but we were able to get him over it fairly soon. One suggestion - do NOT put pepper sauce on his poop to disuade him.

Our vet had suggested this quick fix, and we tried it. Well our pup literally thought of the pepper as a condiment, and then ate his poop anyway. This started a 18-hour period of repeated vomiting by my poor little pup. He couldn't keep his food down, was vomiting his water as well, and by the last few hours he was vomiting bile. At 4AM in the morning, he and I were both passed out, him on my tummy and me on the sofa. Of course by the time I got him to the vet he had worked everything out of his system - it was a $300 lesson to learn.

[MikeC]

Duffy also ate his own poop. At first we thought it was because he was trying to hide the evidence of doing it in the house. It seems to be a common trait that all pups at some point or another, eat their own poops. The Accent thing worked for Duffy, along with yelling at the top of our voices when we saw him attempting to do so. I know it's gross and disgusting but have patience Harley's mom. He will grow out of it. They all do.

MikeC

[lsquarey]

Cami does the exact same thing as Harley! In fact, she snacked on her own poop twice this week when I was walking Axle in the morning. I usually keep her in the bathroom during this period but on two occasions, I came back to a foul smelling bathroom. I immediately knew that the 'pooter' (poo-eater) had a morning snack...During the past 2 days, I left her in her kennel instead of the bathroom. So far so good...On another note, she does try to go for the goose poop occasionally...

[kerry]

bruschi did it when we first got him. We saw him do it before we took him home and my husband was so grossed out he almost didn't want to get him! Since he has been here he hasn't done it. I think it is called corophagia or something like that.

[suedelu29]

When I first got Roxie I thought she was the sickest puppy in the world for doing such a disgusting thing. The vet assured me that eating their own stuff was very common, and you had to be one step ahead of them in picking it up before they do. At 17 months or so Roxie grabs one here and there but if I catch her and yell, she drops it. (Don't know what she does when I am not around!!!)

[suedelu29]

Just me and Roxie again. Is this just a cairn thing to do? Whenever I talk to people with other types of dogs about this, they NEVER heard of such a thing?????

[bradl]

Either they lie, or their fingers are in their ears and their eyes are closed

Mordecai Siegal and Matthew Margolis in their book entitled

[prandaj]

My sister has an adult Shih Tzu and she does this occasionally. The vet gave her some supplements to put in her food, and it works wonderfully. Would you like me to find out what the supplements are?

[Guest reab]

Kudzu ate his poop for the longest time. We tried every solution imaginable. The only sure fire remedy was to pick up the poop immediately. Thankfully, he did eventually grow out of this phase. BUT, if it is really cold (10-20 degrees) he will sniff around it like he wants to. Good luck to you.

[Guest reab]

Oh, I forgot one thing. His poop fetish seemed to have something to do with feeding him treats. I had read this and he stopped eating poop when I stopped giving him dog treats. Now he only gets a very small pc of cheese for a reward. Try no treats for about two weeks and see if this makes a difference.

[harleymom]

Thanks to everyone that replied to my message. I feel better now . I did try the accent thing in the food and he did poop twice and didn't go near it after. However, today he has thrown up twice He just seems like he wants to lay around all day and do nothing. Its not alot of throw up, just a little. Could this be because of the accent????

Someone mentioned something about feeding treats make them eat their own poop. I have stopped feeding him treats too, so maybe this is why he didn't eat his poop yesterday. He didn't start eating it until i gave him treats.....so maybe thats why he started.

I had taken him to the vet on Friday and the doc said that everything looked great with him But today he is throwing up a little. I hope my baby will be okay.

Oh, by the way. This is a GREAT forum. I'm so glad that I found it.